The loss of topsoil, forests, fresh water and biodiversity, and the instability of the global climate are all key issues for 2012. Photograph: Gerd Ludwig/ Gerd Ludwig/Corbis

At the 1992 Earth Summit world leaders turned a corner in environmental policy and changed our world for the better. Will they mark it's 20th anniverary with another leap forward?

Leaders at the first Earth Summit reached agreement on the Climate Change Convention, which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol. So far meetings on how to make the world's economy greener have been hosted mainly by Germany but also China. So, is there a new post Durban 'green bloc' in the making?

As for the UK, despite Energy & Climate Secretary Chis Huhne's valiant efforts to green the economy, he will no doubt continue to be squashed by our chancellor in 2012. The idea that there is a trade-off between environmental sustainability and economic progress is a myth. Greening the economy would make jobs not inhibit them.

The phrase "It's the economy, stupid" was first used by Bill Clinton in his 1992 election campaign. It's very apt now. It could be slightly rewritten to read "It's the stupid economy" that has saddled many countries with huge debts and unsustainable use of resources. As our financial debts have built up, so have our debts to nature – registered on nature's ledger as the loss of topsoil, forests, fresh water and biodiversity, and the instability of the global climate. We need to remember that the most important things in life – air, water, soil, energy, biodiversity – are the things that keep us alive.

Some might say we need a miracle to save the eurozone and the banks in 2012. But we need a far bigger one to save the planet!

The solution, which must be top of the NGO's agenda in 2012, demands fresh thinking. Sustainable business needs strategic government and long term investors. It requires innovative solutions that take into account the larger challenges we face as a global people. We need a new system where human, social, manufacturing and finance capital exist within the boundaries of natural capital.

Next year Greenpeace will focus on two things. The blue economy. How we can protect our marine environment and use the oceans in a more sustainable way. And the green economy. How our food and energy can be produced without destroying the rainforests, despoiling the Arctic and polluting our atmosphere.